Live In New York City

Fans will likely find Live In New York City's porridge not too epic and not too stingy, the balance of newer material, obvious classics, and obscure trifles just right. [13 Apr 2001, p.73]

This powerful set restates Springsteen's great showmanship and generosity of spirit, and the sheer force of his magnificent band. Simply one of the best live albums imaginable.

Unlike the then-career-spanning three-CD set Live 1975-1985, which was notorious for its sanitizing overdubs, Live in New York City for the most part captures the feel of a live Springsteen show.

Taken on its own, Live is still the best officially released evidence of the camaraderie that makes the E Street Band so vital, as well as an essential next chapter for an artist who hasn't released a studio album in some time. But there are still ways in which, as for so many of Springsteen's performances, you had to be there.

Revelations abound: Max Weinberg's demon drumming turns "My Love Will Not Let You Down," an early-Eighties leftover, into a rampaging opener; "Two Hearts" allows duet partners Springsteen and Steven Van Zandt to pay homage to the Marvin Gaye-Kim Weston Motown classic "It Takes Two"; Nils Lofgren's six-string rave-up drops a bomb on the relatively sedate studio version of "Youngstown"; and the slide-guitar voicings on a stark, howling "Born in the U.S.A." evoke both the Far East and Mississippi.

By trying to placate old fans, new fans, and the simply fanatical, Springsteen once again offers an "almost" set, a nice souvenir that finds him and the band in fine form, even if it's a poor substitute for the unfiltered experience.

Few will quarrel with Springsteen's reliance on his pre-Born in the U.S.A. output, or with the use of only one track, "Youngstown," from The Ghost of Tom Joad. But the absence of anything from the grievously underrated Tunnel of Love is a shame, as is the absence of "Further on Up the Road," a wistful and gorgeous new track played often during the Garden dates.

While Live In New York City does nothing to diminish Bruce and his bandmates’ reputation as one of rock history’s finest live acts, it doesn’t offer many listeners a substantial reward for purchase.

Live in New York City is that imperfect creation in which the whole equals something less than the sum of its parts. Taken one song at a time, though, it can be as compelling as live music gets.

Despite some high points, this is hardly the definitive live Springsteen album. [May/June 2001, p.116]